Catalog 108, T-V
329. THOMAS, Dylan. In Country Sleep. (NY): New Directions (1952). One of the last volumes published in Thomas's lifetime, and including perhaps his most famous poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night." Warmly inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Thomas died the following year, while on a lecture and reading tour of the U.S., at the age of 39. Needless to say, copies of this book signed or inscribed by him are quite uncommon. Tiny nick at crown and a small spot at the lower front board edge; very near fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with light edge wear.
330. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. NY: Random House (1971). Thompson's hilarious, drug-soaked memoir of a trip to Vegas -- the book that defined "gonzo journalism." Illustrated by Ralph Steadman, with his bizarre and unforgettable ink drawings, the perfect complement to Thompson's bizarre and unforgettable prose. This is a near fine copy in a supplied, near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Signed by the author and dated in San Francisco in 1984. Thompson rarely signs books, and signed copies of his most famous and successful book seldom turn up on the market.
331. TYLER, Anne. To Eudora Welty, For Showering Us With Gifts. (n.p.): Stuart Wright, 1984. An offprint from the limited edition Eudora Welty: A Tribute. One of five numbered copies signed by Tyler, this being copy number 4. A single poem, laid into printed cardstock covers which bear the above title. The poem inside bears the title "...For Showering Us With Gold." Staples missing; else fine. Probably the scarcest limitation of any Anne Tyler item.
332. (TYLER, Anne). EVANS, Elizabeth. Anne Tyler. NY: Twayne (1993). The first full-length critical study of Anne Tyler, who was a PEN Faulkner Award finalist in 1982 (Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant), winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1985 (The Accidental Tourist), and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for Breathing Lessons. This title was turned into a limited edition with the addition of a tipped-in colophon, indicating that this is one of 100 numbered copies signed by both Tyler and Evans. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
333. UPDIKE, John. The Centaur. NY: Knopf, 1963. His sixth book and fifth work of fiction, a novel that was his first National Book Award winner. A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with light edge wear and a line of rubbing to the rear spine fold. Together with the LP recording of Updike reading an excerpt from The Centaur (NY: CMS Records, n.d.). Updike also reads five poems from Telephone Poles and Other Poems and the story "The Lifeguard" from Pigeon Feathers. Fine. For both:
334. UPDIKE, John. Midpoint. NY: Knopf, 1969. A review copy of this collection of poems. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with review slip and photo of the author (edge-chipped from overhanging the foredge) laid in.
335. -. Same title. Greenwich: Fawcett Crest, 1970. A review copy of the paperback reissue. Acidic pages edge darkened; else fine in wrappers. Review copies of paperbacks are extremely scarce.
336. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit at Rest. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1990. The limited edition of the concluding volume in the Rabbit series. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. With a special 4-page introduction by Updike for this edition. Signed by the author. Fine.
337. UPDIKE, John. Bech at Bay. NY: Knopf, 1998. A sequel to Bech: A Book and Bech is Back. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
338. UPDIKE, John. Gertrude and Claudius. NY: Knopf, 2000. The uncorrected proof copy of his well-received new novel. Fine in wrappers.
339. (UPDIKE, John). The Best American Short Stories of the Century. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. A "Best of" the "Best of" collections, edited and introduced by Updike. Fifty-five stories, spanning the years 1915-1998, and collecting, among others, Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Welty, Nabokov, Cheever, O'Connor, Roth, Oates, Barthelme, Bellow, Carver, Beattie, Munro, Lorrie Moore, Tim O'Brien, James Alan McPherson and, of course, Updike. This is the limited edition. One of 200 numbered copies signed by Updike. Clothbound, in slipcase. Very slight corner bump; else fine.
340. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade. (n.p.): Seymour Lawrence/Delacorte (1969). Vonnegut's masterwork, a powerful fictional memoir of his experiences during the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. Vonnegut's philosophical reflections on the tragic absurdity of humankind are embedded in an impressionistic, pessimistic yet comic science fiction tale that is a high spot of the literature of the 1960s and since. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with slight darkening and edge creasing. A very nice copy of a Modern Library, Radcliffe and Waterstone's book of the century.
341. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Hocus Pocus. NY: Putnam (1990). The uncorrected proof copy. A bit of crinkling to the spine base; else fine in wrappers.
342. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Histoire du Soldat. (n.p.): Gonfalon Press, 1997. A limited edition of Vonnegut's libretto for Igor Stravinsky's 1918 composition. Vonnegut replaced the original text with a story based on the service and execution of Private Eddie Slovik, the only American soldier to be executed for desertion in World War II. A heart and head-felt anti-war comment by an author whose masterwork, Slaughterhouse-Five, stands as one of the century's greatest statements on the absurdity and tragedy of the human insistence on self-destruction. This edition was created and illustrated by Michael Fallon. One of 110 numbered copies signed by Vonnegut and Fallon. A fine copy, in cloth and paper covered boards, without dust jacket, as issued.
343. VONNEGUT, Kurt. God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian. NY: Seven Stories Press (1999). The advance reading copy of a compilation of afterlife "interviews" Vonnegut first reported on New York public radio. With a new introduction by the author. Fine.